Afternoon music

Talking point

Makerfield by-election

Well, Burnham won. Not unexpected. The msm is going mad with this supposed great turning-point etc. Rather overblown, as is their contention that all Labour (or both of the main System parties) needed to do was to change horses, and both Reform and Restore would be left behind.

Not quite. At the 2024 General Election, Labour scored 45.2% at Makerfield, and Reform UK scored 31.8%. At the 2026 by-election, the Labour vote was 54.8%, so higher but not stunningly so, and the Reform vote was 34.5%, also higher than in 2024, despite the challenge from Restore Britain (6.8%) which did not exist in 2024.

While Reform and Restore together scored well below Labour’s vote, that combined vote still added up to 41.3%; quite respectable. Over 41% of the total of eligible voters did not vote at all, a sign that many are either apathetic or more radical than Reform and Restore.

Prior to the vote, enemy of the people Lisa Nandy made some foolish comment that “about 6% or 7%” of the Makerfield electorate were “racists” who would vote for any anti-immigration party. 6% or 7%. Now see the combined Reform/Restore vote— over 41%.

I think that several factors contributed to Burnham’s win. The split Reform/Restore was one. True, the two parties still scored a total below that of Burnham-Labour, but that might not have been the case had only one party stood.

Then there is the hullabaloo and msm reportage about how Burnham would unseat the hated Starmer-stein, and about his supposed more radical and/or active ideas to improve life in the North of England. Unconvincing to me, but apparently not to many Northern English voters.

The other interesting parts of the by-election result were the poor showings of the Conservatives and LibDems.

The Conservatives scored only 2.2% at the by-election, and lost their deposit. In 2024, their vote had been 10.9%, and in 2019, 34.4%.

The LibDems scored only 0.4% at the by-election (a mere 163 votes) as against 6.8% in 2024.

An indication of how far the credibility of both parties has fallen in parts of the country.

Tweets seen

It is official there are 24,927 people in Makerfield who are retarded enough to vote Labour, the party that covered up the grooming gangs and the party that have destroyed this country with mass immigration

Andy Burnham have used you as a stepping stone to start a leadership… https://t.co/iBif3gAR1x pic.twitter.com/sWV7Mj73ze

— Grifty (@TheGriftReport) June 19, 2026

Sky News reporting on vaccine damage
💥💥💥 https://t.co/BPvlyutRod

— June Slater (@juneslater17) June 17, 2026

The so-called “vaccines” have done huge and hugely underreported damage to millions.

Steven Eugen Kuhn

Someone inside Oekraïne🇺🇦 send me this at great personal risk.

They said if it gets traced back to them,they’re gone‼️

So I read it.Because they trusted that if it gets outside,somebody would say something.

I’m saying something!Now you’ve heard it. pic.twitter.com/e7EIVhuqYI

— Van Emmerick Kris (@VanEmmerickKris) June 18, 2026

The optics of having a by-election and fixing a seat for AB. The optics of the last 12 hours. Terrible. Certain wings of Labour seem to lack any self-awareness. They’re giving entitlement not hope. And I suspect it will end in a battering one way or another.

— Fiona-Natasha Syms (@SymsFifi) June 19, 2026